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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



corners on the frames, for these would pre- 

 vent their being placed in a large frame. 



To make up colonies it is best to use bees 

 that have just completed a batch of cells, 

 for such bees are normally ready to have 

 their queen mate. This is not necessary, 

 however. Put a small teacupful into each 

 box, close them for six to eight hours, and 

 then run in a virgin in each box. At eve- 

 ning remove the nuclei a mile or so, and open 

 the entrances. Nuclei may be made up in 

 an outyard, and brought to the main yard. 

 After one day's flight the nuclei may be 

 brought back to their old yard, without fear 

 of their return to the old hive. Mr. Root 

 says that these nuclei must be confined three 

 days, and that was the method used at Me- 

 dina while I was there; but this other meth- 

 od saves two days' time, and is a httle less 

 severe on the bees. Any queen may be in- 

 troduced to bees that have been confined for 

 six or eight hours, without the use of a cage. 

 To equip the small hive, use one frame 

 filled with honey or syrup, and one frame 

 with a triangular piece of foundation to keep 

 the bees busy. After the first queen is 

 mated and removed it may be necessary to 

 feed. An ounce of feed every day or two 

 will keep the bees working, and queen after 

 queen may be mated from the same box un- 

 til finally the original supply of workers be- 

 comes reduced, when it is necessary to make 

 up the box again. Each queen will lay a 

 few eggs in the box, and the supply of work- 

 ers will thus be kept up; but I do not believe 

 that any brood is necessary. In all the time 

 that I was at Medina the small nuclei work- 

 ed without brood; and while unsealed larvae 

 may be of advantage in keeping the bees in 

 the box, yet I doubt if it is at all necessary 

 that they be present. 



To introduce a second queen in the box 

 after a laying queen has been removed, close 

 the entrance for six to eight hours; run in a 

 virgin, and open at evening. By this meth- 

 od no introducing-cage is necessary. If de- 

 sired, an introducing-cage may be built in 

 the cover of the hive, as was done at Me- 

 dina while I was there, or any of the numer- 

 ous introducing-cages may be used. 



I am glad to read in Gleanings that the 

 small nuclei are not robbed. There is abso- 

 lutely no reason why they should be, for 

 bees with a queen will protect their hive, no 

 matter how small their number. 



The editor of Gleanings is to be com- 

 mended for the stand he takes against the 

 use of smoke on these nuclei; for if smoked 

 with clouds of smoke from a smoker they 

 will naturally be discouraged. Might it not 

 be as well to carry over the same directions 

 regarding smoke to the manipulation of 

 larger colonies? How any one can expect 

 bees to behave naturally after being treated 

 to smoke as they often are is past compre- 

 hension. 



To a bee-keeper the question naturally 

 arises, "Will these nuclei pay?" In the 

 first place, the cost of a small box with two 

 small frames is very little as compared with 

 a regulation hive with its frames; but grant- 



ing that the bee-keeper has the hives, the 

 question of relative expense is easily settled. 

 If any one will consider the amount of honey 

 that could be obtained from a large colony 

 of bees in one season, and then think that, 

 if these bees are divided up into two-frame 

 nuclei, that surplus is lost, the waste of 

 large nuclei is evident at once. One good 

 colony will easily make 30 or 40 miniature 

 nuclei, and still leave a good-sized nucleus 

 for testing a queen, and that, surely, is a 

 great saving of dollars and cents. 



In the second place, when once the small 

 nuclei are in use they are infinitely easier to 

 handle, and much time is saved in finding 

 the queen, in feeding, and other things 

 which all colonies need. It is to be expect- 

 ed that there will yet remain many bee- 

 keepers who will still refuse to believe that 

 small nuclei are practical, simply because 

 they themselves can not make them work; 

 but I for one would scarcely care to take 

 their word for the usefulness of the system 

 after the evidence which I have had of the 

 results that can be obtained. 



Philadelphia, Pa., Aug. 26. 



[We have found since our first report that 

 brood is not necessary. Indeed Mr. W. H. 

 Laws at the St. Louis convention made the 

 statement that the " babies " were better 

 without it.— Ed.] 



THE PHILADELPHIA BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



Meeting Held at The A. I. Root Co.'s Apiary at 

 Jenkintown, Pa., Sept. 10, 1904. 



BY F. HAHMAN, sec. 



The weather was ideal for the occasion— 

 warm and quiet, the sun partially obscured, 

 with occasional gleams of bright light— a day 

 to make both visitors and bees feel content- 

 ed and happy. 



The apiary was lately established, with 

 much care and expense. The grounds have 

 been laid out on the terrace plan, and ap- 

 peared very attractive to the eye, with nice- 

 ly kept lawns, and beds of cannas and other 

 flowering plants, including a bed of large 

 "flowering goldenrod." The colonies were 

 strung along in straight lines, the hives 

 neatly painted white, the whole presenting 

 a pleasing and attractive piece of landscape. 



The meeting was opened by electing Dr. 

 L. M. Weaver chairman, the president and 

 vice-president being absent from the city. 

 The secretary read minutes of the previous 

 meeting, which were approved as read. 



Mr. John B. Parks was elected to mem- 

 bership. Mr. Wm. A. Selser, as The A. I. 

 Root Co.'s representative, made an address 

 of welcome. He stated that this apiary was 

 for the benefit of all bee-keepers in the east- 

 ern part of the country, to demonstrate to 

 them the advances made in apiculture from 

 time to time, as improvements are intro- 

 duced in bees and apicultural accessories 

 and appliances, and to see that visitors are 

 coi'dially invited to take advantage of the 



